SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001
by Jennifer10
Summary: A short one shot following the friends on that day that changed America. It was an idea I had...please read/review. Oh, and I had uploaded an earlier version by mistake! COMPLETE


September 11, 2001

There are certain dates that will forever bring up emotions. November 22, 1963, a beloved president was assassinated in a car in Dallas. January 26, 1986, a space shuttle carrying a teacher exploded killing all aboard. Dates that live on in infamy, cause conversations that begin with "Do you remember where you were when..." On a crystal clear day day in September, that day became yet another one of those unfortunate unforgettable dates and for six friends in New York, it was a day where they spent the day trying to reconnect, trying to get back together and trying to find one another.

That day had begun with two newlyweds waking up in each others arms. Monica and Chandler Bing had gotten married four months earlier. It had been a summer of unexpected craziness for the two. In addition to them getting married, Rachel had discovered she was pregnant with Ross' child. Things were changing for the six friends whom for the past seven years had grown up together. Now they were thirty two years old and with their thirties came life changes and for that brief, quiet moment where time felt like it had stopped, Monica and Chandler just lay together, Chandler holding her closely in his arms, Monica interlinking her fingers with his. She loved playing with his wedding ring, The symbol of the wedding ring ran deeply with her. She was in this for the rest of her life and she knew he felt the same. She smiled as he kissed her neck.

"I wanna stay here all day," Chandler whispered.

Monica smiled, she nodded in agreement. Unfortunately, that would not be possible. It was a Tuesday morning and Monica had a twelve hour shift at Alessandro's that day and Chandler had some statistical analysis meeting at the Trade Center where he was going to learn how to work some new processing system that would make reconfiguring data easier. Monica smiled as she ran those words through her head. She had made it a point after Chandler proposed to actually figure out what he did for a living. She never quite got it. She had even asked Joey and Phoebe who had both worked in Chandler's office at one point, if they had a clue. Phoebe said she had spent most of her days in Chandler's office trying to make everything look more peaceful and less scary. She had even tried putting candles and incense in Chandler's office and playing guitar in the break room, but Chandler told her to stop and the candles kept setting off the fire alarms. Joey had spent his time pretending to be some character and really just put numbers from one column to the other. Chandler had taught him to cut and paste on the computer and so Joey cut and paste random numbers. After learning how little help they were which really should not have shocked her, she tried to figure it out on her own and it ended up giving her a headache. Sure, she used math at her work, but that math was just measurements, this was far more complicated and she still wasn't sure she got it.

"You have to go to that data reconfiguration meeting."

"I love that you researched what I do. I'll tell you all about it when I get home," Chandler grinned.

"You-you don't have to do that."

Chandler laughed as he held her closer to him. He hated talking about his job. He knew his friends didn't get it. It really was supposed to have been a temp job. He had been twenty one years old, needed a job and had applied to this processing firm on the advice of one of his college professors. Despite his jokster nature, he had always been pretty good with saving and money. It's why he always had more than his friends. He was good at it, so he stayed and stayed. Even though he didn't really like it, the work environment didn't really suit his personality. It was more stuffy and he really wasn't that, but it was a job and job that made him a six figure a year salary by the time he was twenty six. Sure he had been tempted to quit, but he could not walk away from that. So now, there he was at thirty two and still stuck at a job he hated, was good at it but hated it and was making some good money because of it.

"Are you sure?" Chandler asked, joking.

"No, no...well okay, you're going to a meeting where you are going to learn about a new reconfiguration system about-"

"It's a training to learn about this new data process system that will help speed up reconfiguration and analysis."

"Wow...I still don't know what those words mean. I'm sorry, Chandler."

"It's okay," Chandler smiled as he kissed her neck. They lay there for a bit longer until they heard their front door open and shut. They sat up as they heard Joey's voice yelling for them, telling them he had run of juice and was stealing theirs. They got up and this marked the kick of to that Tuesday. A Tuesday that seemed like any other Tuesday. Monica getting up to make a quick breakfast for herself, Joey, Chandler and Rachel who stopped by about fifteen minutes after Joey, dressed in her suit for work. They had talked about random stuff that morning. Joey talked about having an unusually busy day. There was an acting class at nine, an audition he had at a theater near the Trade Center at around noon and then another around four pm. The noon audition was the one he was looking forward to the most. It was for an Italian American mobster guy which Joey felt he was perfect for. He and Chandler made plans to meet for lunch because they'd both be in the same area around one. Chandler would have a lunch break from his all day conference and Joey would be done with his audition. They'd eat at the restaurant at the top of the Trade Center. Rachel talked about whether or not she should tell her boss she was pregnant. She figure she probably had to, after all it had been about two months and she'd be showing in a few months. She hoped her boss would be understanding. Monica talked about her long shift and the other three suggested that they along with Phoebe and Ross meet up at Alessandro's around eight thirty that night for a late dinner and it would be the end of Monica's shift. They had plans, the six semi codependent group of friends. They would all be unable to take long breaks at Central Perk that day as it seemed work and more adult stuff would keep them from doing the random hanging out stuff loved to do.

Breakfast ended around eight am and the four friends walked downstairs to hail four separate cabs. They hugged goodbye, Monica and Chandler shared a brief kiss and off they went, Rachel to Ralph Lauren, Joey to his acting class, Chandler to the Trade Center and Monica to Alessandro's. For all intents and purposes, it just seemed like it would be one of those random, boring days.

Ross was currently sitting in his office at NYU. He had gotten a fairly early start to his day. Ever since he had found out he was going to be a dad for the second time, he began to work harder. It had been a shock when Rachel had informed him that she was pregnant with his child. It had not been what he had been expecting when Rachel had shown up at his apartment that day, but once the shock wore off, he threw himself into his work. He was working on another book about dinosaurs, while at the same time keeping up his teaching schedule. He had gotten into his office about eight that morning and had been working pretty consistently only to be interrupted by a text from Monica telling him the six of them would be eating at Alessandro's at eight thirty that night. He texted back and said he'd be there. He then continued writing, excited about the busy day that lay ahead.

Phoebe was up early as well. Tuesday was an unusually busy day for her as well. She had massage clients all day long. She normally wasn't that busy, normally only having on average twelve to twenty clients a week. But that day, she had twelve clients. She wasn't sure why so many people suddenly decided they needed to have a massage done by her although when she had woken up that morning, she had felt oddly stressed, but she wasn't sure why. She had had a horrible dream the night before, a dream so scary that her hands shook as she wrote about it in her dream journal. There had been an explosion and she was running through the streets of New York trying to find her friends. People were screaming, crying as dead bodies lay motionless on the streets. She had never had a dream like this and was tempted to look up the meaning but decided not to, she was too frightened to look it up. She believed in dreams and if that dream meant something, then she didn't want to know. She would just go about her day, trying desperately to ignore that nagging feeling she had in the pit in her stomach that something horrible was about to happen.

Chandler had arrived at the Twin Towers around 8:30a and walked into one of the large conference rooms. He checked in, grabbed his name tag and walked towards a table filled with refreshments and coffee. He saw one of his coworkers and smiled. The coworker congratulated Chandler on getting married. Chandler thanked him and the two men chatted briefly about their wives. They talked about work stuff and what else had gone on that summer. Chandler always felt like he had two different personalities. The one he shared with his friends, the joker and the other he shared with his coworkers which while did have a bit of his jokster nature, also had him talking about work. Monica, Joey and Phoebe were really the only ones that had seen him engaged in work conversations before. He was the boss, the grownup in charge. He used big, fancy words and had the fancy office. They had been impressed that their friend whose food palate was on par with that of a five year old was also really kind of intelligent. The guy who laughed at jokes aimed at twelve year olds could carry on lengthy conversations about statistical analysis without cringing. Monica had found it sexy, Joey found it migraine inducing and Phoebe thought the whole thing was odd. But Chandler kind of enjoyed having that dual persona.

A voice came over the PA to announce the meeting would be beginning soon. Chandler and the co worker when to go find seats. As Chandler sat down, his phone went off. Chandler reached into his pocket, grabbed his phone and smiled at the text from Joey. Joey had sent him a picture of a billboard that said "69" on it. It was an ad for a phone company saying that they had a plan as low as sixty nine dollars a month. Chandler laughed and texted him back, telling him that it was a special kind of plan. As he pressed send, he heard a loud sound. It was a sound that made him jump so quickly that he ended up spilling his entire cup of coffee in his lap. He looked around, wildly thinking that he should probably come up with a joke, but no one was looking at him. The crash had sounded like a sonic blast of some sort. Chandler looked around and noticed everyone else looked just as spooked as he did. What was that? His heart beat out of his chest, his pants were wet, the coffee now seeping through but he wasn't paying attention to that as it seemed suddenly the room had gone completely silent and Chandler stood frozen barely able to contemplate his next move.

Rachel sat in Mr. Zellner's office. She was fidgeting, nervous. She and Mr. Zellner had always had a very cordial business relationship, ever since that horribly embarrassing interview where she had made a complete fool of herself. They just said hello when they passed each other in the halls, not really ever saying much more than that to each other but there she was, sitting there telling him that she was pregnant, would be due in May and was asking for maternity leave for six weeks. She would be back in the middle of June. Being in his office scared her because she always recalled that horrible interview. She still had no clue why she had done what she had done and after she had been hired, she made a mental note to try never to associate with Mr. Zellner unless she had to and that day, she had to and when the meeting was done, she could not get out of that office fast enough. As she walked back to her office, she ignored the whispering around her. Ever since she had gotten pregnant, there had been rumors going on at the office. People wondering if she, a single woman whose last relationship was with her much younger assistant, was now having a child out of wedlock. She didn't respond to the rumors, just ignored them. She was not having Tad's baby, she was having Ross' and she still wasn't sure how she felt about that. She loved Ross, but wasn't sure what this whole thing would mean for their relationship. As she walked back to her office, she would call him and tell him about her meeting with Mr. Zellner. When she reached her office, she saw her new assistant staring intensely at her computer. Rachel missed Tad, he had been such an amazing assistant. While she did like her new assistant, Angie, she still sometimes wondered what would happen if Tad were still there. She probably would not be pregnant, she figured.

"Hey, Angie. Did I get any messages?" Rachel asked.

Angie wasn't listening, staring at her computer. Rachel rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Angie, did I get any messages?" Rachel asked again. Angie turned and looked at Rachel, fear in her eyes. Rachel stepped back, wondering what was going on, what was Angie looking at that was making her stare at Rachel like that.

"A plane crashed into the World Trade Center," Angie said.

"What?" Rachel asked. that was a sentence she was not expecting. A sentence she had never heard before. Angie pointed to her computer when another coworker ran into Rachel's office.

"Quick, Rach, Angie. Everyone is in the break room watching the news. A plane just crashed into one of the towers. They don't know why yet," the coworker yelled and ran out of the office. Rachel and Angie exchanged a look and followed the coworker out the office and towards the break room where everyone was watching television. Rachel watched the images on the screen, her mouth dropped open in horror when suddenly she remembered something or someone.

"Chandler," Rachel whispered.

"What?" Angie asked.

"My-my friend has a meeting there today. Oh my G-d," Rachel reached down to her pockets before remembering she had left her purse containing her cell phone in her office. She turned and ran out, walking towards her office again. She grabbed her cell phone and ran back to the break room to continue watching. She looked down at her phone, she had no messages, no texts. This freaked her out. She sent a mass text to Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey and Chandler to please text or call her immediately.

"Oh my G-d, another one," Angie said as she pointed to the screen. Rachel's breath caught in her throat as the second plane flew into the side of one of the towers. Rachel could see Chandler's face in her head and it scared her. She knew he was there. She could feel the tears in her eyes and silently began to pray that everything would be okay.

Joey walked out of his acting class oblivious to the heaviness in the air.. He had had a great class. He looked at his watch and realized he had time to kill before his audition, so he figured maybe he'd head over to Central Perk, grab a coffee and relax. Although, it seemed quite difficult to catch a cab so he just kept walking. As he walked, he felt his phone go off and he grabbed it out of his pocket to see Rachel's text telling him to text or call immediately. He called her and she picked up immediately.

"Joey?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah...what's up?"

"How are you?"

"I'm fine. Just leaving acting class. What's going on?"

"Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers."

"What?" Joey asked. This piece of information confused him. Things like that don't happen in New York but as he stopped on the street, he began to absorb his surroundings. There seemed to be this creepy, eery feeling floating in the air.

"Are you near a TV?" Rachel asked.

"No."

"Just go home, please," Rachel said. Joey could tell she was crying. "Just go home and wait and...oh my G-d...and...I just talked to Phoebe. She's okay but have you heard from Chandler or Monica or Ross."

"No. But Chandler and I have lunch plans in a few hours."

"I don't think you're meeting him for lunch today, Joey. Just go home, please and turn on the TV and I'll be home soon as I can...as soon I can get out of here. I'm shaking...they keep saying it's an attack. That the planes were hijacked and that...just go home."

"Okay, Rach...I'm sure it's not that big of thing...it'll be okay. Just calm down. I'm gonna go home and I'll let you know if I hear from Ross, Monica or Chandler."

"Please...Chandler's in there. Oh my G-d. He just got married. He's gonna be an uncle," Rachel said, now in hysterics.

"Rachel, he's fine. Come on, it's Chandler. He probably snuck out of the meeting to go get coffee. I swear...stop crying. Chandler and I will even call you from lunch," Joey said.

"Okay. I have to go," Rachel cried, "please go home."

"I will."

Rachel hung up and Joey just began running. Rachel's voice freaked him out. He had never heard her like that before and he began racing through the streets, not stopping even to take a breath. He had to get home. His heart began beating wildly. People around him also were running. They also looked scared. He just kept running. His acting class was ten blocks from his apartment. He didn't even bother trying to get a cab, just kept on. He finally reached his building and opened the door as hard as he could and began to run up the six flights of stairs taking two stairs at a time until he finally reached his floor. When he turned the corner, he stopped, placed his hands on his knees and took a deep breath. He stood up and saw her, Phoebe now standing in front of Monica and Chandler's door, staring at him. Joey stared at her as she walked up to him. She threw her arms around him and hugged him, breaking into sobs. Joey placed his arm around her and led him into his apartment. He left his door open though so if Monica, Rachel, Ross or Chandler came home, they'd come over to his place.

Phoebe had been in the middle of her second massage client of the day when her cell phone went off. Normally, she did not answer her phone during massages and usually left her phone off thinking that there should no sounds of technology present when a massage was taking place but she had forgotten to turn off her phone. She walked over to her coffee table, with the intention of turning off her phone when she noticed Rachel's text. She figured Rachel was probably just texting about telling her boss about her pregnancy. She knew that's what Rachel's plan was that day but her client's phone also went off and the client began to get a look of horror on his face, that's when Phoebe started to get nervous. That feeling she had been experiencing, that feeling that something was horribly wrong began to return. The client hung up and told Phoebe he needed to return home immediately, that there had been a plan crash at the World Trade Center. The client paid Phoebe, got dressed and left. Phoebe turned on the television and began watching. She stared at her phone and pressed send.

"Phoebe, where are you? Are you okay?" Rachel asked.

"I'm home. My massage client just left. Have you heard from anyone?"

"No and Chandler's in that building," Rachel said.

"He's fine."

"How do you know? I can't believe this is happening."

"I'm gonna go over to the apartment and wait for Monica or Chandler or Joey...are you going home, Rach?" Phoebe asked.

"As soon as I can. What is going on?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel, it's gonna be okay," Phoebe said.

"Oh, I have another call. It's Joey, he's buzzing in. Go to the apartment if you can," Rachel said as she clicked over. Phoebe stared at her phone and back at the television. She could feel her whole body go numb. It was that same feeling she had experienced when her mom had passed away. This horrible feeling that nothing would ever be the same. Her friends always mocked her sixth sense about things, but that dream, that horrible dream. She knew there was more to it and here it was. She got up and blew out the candles and incense around her apartment, folded up her massage table and wrote a note and stuck it on her front door, informing any clients that due to the events going on at World Trade Center, all appointments were canceled and would be rescheduled although she wondered how many of her clients would actually show up.

She walked outside and somehow managed to get a cab and took it across town to the apartment. She prayed that one of her friends were there already. When it got to the apartment, she walked into the building and up the six flights of stairs. She had at one time called this place her home. When she had moved into Monica's apartment, after awhile she had begun to hate Monica. She thought Monica was controlling and obnoxious. She had also hated Chandler too. But then she got to truly know both of them. Monica was strong and ambitious, Chandler was funny and the two shared a bond of both having truly sucky childhoods. It was amazing how quick those opinions were turned. She now could not imagine her life without either one of them.

When she reached the sixth floor, she walked towards Monica and Chandler's first and knocked. Their door was locked. Then she knocked on Joey and Rachel's door and that door was locked too. While those two doors were rarely ever locked if someone was home, they were always locked when no one was. Phoebe wondered if she should go to the building next door and see if Ross was at his place, but figured he would probably come over to check on Monica, Rachel, Joey and Chandler. She sat in front of Monica and Chandler's door, looking towards the stairwell when she heard loud noises. She stood up as Joey appeared before her, looking out of breath like he had just run a marathon. Phoebe walked over to him and hugged him. She began breaking down in sobs as Joey held her and guided her towards his apartment. He opened the door and left it open. Phoebe sat on the barcalounger and Joey turned on the television, then moved to the armrest and sat, Phoebe moved in and rested her head against him as he held her.

"Do you think he got out of there?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes," Joey said.

"How do you know?"

"I refuse to believe he didn't. That...that won't happen," Joey said, shaking his head. His mind would not go that far. Even as he watched the news, he thought about his lunch plans with Chandler and he figured Chandler would text him at any point letting him know that there had been a change in plans.

Monica was frozen, staring at the television. She had been cooking, not really paying attention to what was going on around her. It was the morning rush but around ten she began to realize that there were plates of food that were not being served and she was practically alone in her kitchen. She walked out of the restaurant and noticed a crowd of people gathered around the television over the bar. She rolled her eyes as she saw her waitstaff and several of her chefs and about twenty customers watching intensely. As she got closer, she began to watch what they were watching. She wondered at first if they were watching a movie but it became apparent that what they were watching was real, horrifyingly real.

"The towers are falling," someone shouted.

Monica watched as one of the towers crumbled to the ground. Then she saw his face in her head, Chandler Bing, her husband of only four months, her best friend of fifteen years. He was in that building, one of those buildings. She had no way of knowing what building or floor he was on. He hadn't mentioned that, just that he was in a conference room in the World Trade Center listening to a lecture.

"Chandler...my husband is in there," Monica said.

"What?" A waitress standing next to her asked.

"My husband is that building. He had a meeting there today. I don't know what floor, but he had...oh my G-d...Chandler," Monica covered her mouth with her hand as she began shaking. Tears began falling as she felt wobbly. The waitress placed her arm around her and soon everyone was trying to comfort her, telling her that her husband was fine. If it had been any other moment, she may have made a comment about how strange it was that an attack on New York was what it took for her coworkers at Alessandro's to be nice to her but that thought didn't cross her mind. She kept thinking about Chandler and she began crying. A couple of the waitresses walked Monica to a table where she sat.

"Can someone get me my purse, please?" Monica asked.

Another waiter nodded and ran off as Monica put her head in her hands. Her shoulders shook as she began sobbing. The waiter returned with her purse and handed it to Monica. Monica reached in and grabbed her phone, noticing Rachel's text. She pressed Rachel's number and Rachel answered immediately.

"Monica," Rachel said.

"Oh my G-d...Rachel...the tower just fell down."

"I know, they say it's a terrorist attack."

"Where are you?"

"I'm still at work. Joey and Phoebe are at the apartment and...no one has heard from Chandler or Ross. I'm going home. Do you know which tower Chandler's meeting was in?"

"No. I don't even know what floor he was on. Rachel, what if I lost him?"

"You didn't lose him. He's Chandler...he's probably on his way home."

"Why hasn't he called?"

"I don't know."

"I'm gonna...I can't be here. I need to go...I wanna go to the towers. I need to find my husband."

"No, Mon. Go home. They're not gonna let you near the towers. It's completely blocked off."

"But I need to find my husband. I got married four months ago. We're still newlyweds. This isn't supposed to happen."

"Monica, go home."

"What if he's hurt or he's buried in that rubble...he needs help. I need to go help him."

"There are people that will do that. Stay there. Alessandro's isn't too far from Ralph Lauren. I'll go there and we'll go back to the apartment together."

"Okay."

Rachel hung up with Monica and looked around. Everyone was still gathered around the television. She wasn't sure if she could leave her office or not, but she felt like she had to. She needed to be with her friends. She knew Phoebe, Joey and Monica were safe. She knew where they were although, she knew she needed to go find Monica before Monica went off in search of Chandler. She told Mr. Zellner she was going home and also told Angie to leave as well. She walked back to her office, turned off her computer, grabbed her stuff and walked out of the building.

There was a weird feeling in the air. People were walking around, looking like zombies, people were shell shocked. There were clouds of smoke coming from far off. Rachel felt her throat tighten again as she walked towards Alessandros which was five blocks away. As she walked, she exchanged looks with random strangers. It was this knowledge they were all in this together, this horrific event that would no doubt would change the lives of everyone.

When she finally reached Alessandro's, Monica was still sitting at a table when she looked up and noticed Rachel. She got up and walked towards Rachel and hugged her.

"Let's go home, Mon."

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Monica asked.

Rachel smiled, looking at her friend. The last time she had seen this kind of vulnerability and pain in her friend's eyes it had been when she and Richard had broken up. It always scared Rachel to see that look in Monica's eyes because she always considered Monica her rock, her pillar of strength. Rachel was the type to freak out about anything, the hyper emotional one that wore her heart on her sleeve. She often relied on Monica to keep her from losing complete control and Monica happily took on the role of keeping Rachel sane, but now it seemed Monica needed Rachel to return that favor and she would do her best.

"Yeah...I bet he's hanging out with the fireman, cracking jokes about the giant hose and asking if he can slide down the pole," Rachel said.

Monica smiled and let out a short breath. She didn't believe that was true at all, but the thought was nice and she could use a nice thought.

"Yeah. That's what he's doing. That's why he hasn't called. I bet he's annoying the firemen right now and like getting on their truck and playing with all their equipment."

"Oh yeah, that seems like Chandler," Rachel said.

"Yeah," Monica said. "Thanks, Rach."

Rachel smiled as the two women hugged again. Monica took a deep breath and looked back at her staff. She instructed them to all go home. The restaurant was now closed. She explained that she would let everyone know when it would be open again, perhaps next week. But for now, everyone just needed to return home.

Ross walked back into his office after his morning classes. It was about ten thirty now. As reached his office, he heard people talking about a plane crash and about an attack on the World Trade Center. He opened the door to his office and walked in when the Dean walked in after him.

"Professor Geller?" The Dean asked.

"Yes, Dean."

"Just a heads up, all classes are canceled for the rest of the day. New York is under attack."

"Excuse me?"

It was then that Ross noticed the screen on his computer and that he had ten texts and ten missed calls on his phone. His face grew white as he read what was happening. This seemed so unbelievable. He looked at his phone and noticed the texts from Rachel, Joey and Phoebe and the calls from them as well. He looked at the Dean and nodded, the Dean walked out as Ross pressed Rachel's number.

"Oh thank G-d, Ross."

"Rachel, what the hell-"

"I'm on my way to the apartment. I have Monica with me. We're walking there now. Joey and Phoebe are at Joey and I's apartment. Go there."

"Has anyone heard from Chandler?"

"No...no one. He's in one of the towers that just collapsed...at least I think. I don't know. Do you know where his meeting was?"

"No."

"Crap...he needs to start talking more to us about work."

"I'm on my way."

"Okay," Rachel said.

"How's Mon?"

"She's really upset."

"Let me talk to her," Ross said. He heard rustling in the background and soon Monica was on the phone.

"My husband is gone."

"He's not gone. Mon, it's going to be okay."

"How do you know this?"

"'Cause it's Chandler. He's probably annoying the hell out of the firemen right now."

"Where are you?"

"Work. I'm leaving. I'll be at Rachel and Joey's as soon as I can."

"Okay."

Ross hung up and grabbed his stuff. He walked out of his office, shutting the door behind him. He walked out and began walking towards the apartment. The air almost had a deathly smell to it. He could barely see through the clouds of smoke as he made his way home.

Soon, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey and Ross were gathered in front of the television in Monica and Chandler's apartment watching the coverage. They all kept trying to call Chandler but every call went to voice mail. They called so many times that soon his voice mail box filled up. They all began thinking the worse but no one wanted to say those thoughts out loud. Saying those thoughts would some how make them real. They were forever a group of six, not five. They could not lose a member, that was unacceptable, a thought that could not enter their minds.

It was Monica who had voiced the idea first. It was now five at night and she could no longer sit there watching television and wait. They had been waiting for hours and she was losing her mind. She needed to get down there. This time though, no one disagreed and the five friends left the building and headed towards the crash site in search of their friend.

Chandler had been trapped in the rubble for five hours when the rescue workers finally got to him. He was filthy, terrified, his muscles sore and he had a cut on his head. His phone had gotten lost in the rubble so he could not call his wife or his friends. When he was finally rescued, the emergency crew examined him for another hour before determining that he was okay. He wanted to get home. He refused offers to be driven home by police or taken to a hospital where he could be picked up. He had even seen Phoebe's old boyfriend, Gary who offered to drive him home but Chandler declined. He needed to clear his head and he was able to walk just fine and with that, began to walk off.

He had gotten about twenty feet from the rubble when he saw them walking towards him. He recognized them immediately and soon they recognized him. He stopped and waited for them. Ross pointed him out first. Monica raced towards him, wrapping her arms around him, holding him tightly. Soon the others surrounded him and they were all hugging, crying, standing with the wreckage behind them.

Chandler was still stunned by what had gone on, unable to comprehend anything. He had been lying in bed with his wife and the next thing he knew, a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. He had no idea what time it was. His watched had stopped at ten thirty am. He felt dirty, he was completely covered in soot and his pants had huge stains on them from the coffee that morning to dried pee. He had been so scared he had actually peed in his pants and he really did not care if any of his friends had a comment although none of them really seemed to want to make one. He was shaking as Monica held him.

"What happened to you?" Rachel asked.

"Why didn't you call?" Monica asked.

"My phone broke. It's somewhere in the World Trade Center," Chandler said.

"What happened?" Ross asked.

"I was at the seminar. I was there early. I was getting coffee and talking to Rick...this guy at work and I went to sit down and I heard this blast and my coffee spilled on my lap. They told us to evacuate and then told us not to and then the building started to fall. I was out...or part way out and I tripped or something in the rubble and I don't know," Chandler said.

"I'm glad you're here," Monica said.

"My phone must have dropped as I was running out or something but it broke and...I couldn't...I'm sorry I couldn't call. What...where were all of you?" Chandler asked.

"Waiting for you...and then we decided we needed to find you," Rachel said.

"I-I want to go home," Chandler said.

Monica smiled as she grabbed his hand. The six friends began walking down the street, away from the fallen towers towards the apartment all comforting each other in silence. The knowledge that they were still a group of six would be what would them through the days, the months to come when everything would seem dark and scary, they would still have each other.


End file.
